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PRACTICAL HINTS 



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Bv DON J. ARNOLD. 



BKOWNVILLE, NEB.: 

Advertiser Book and Job Print. 

1874. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the veai 1874, 
•^ By DON J. ARNOLD, 

in the olfice of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



PRACTICAL HINTS 



O N 



mm ■ iliiitt 






By DON J. ARNOLD. 



BKOWNVILLE, NEB.: 

Advertiskr Book avd Job Pbint. 

1874. 



■ Ant. 












HISTORY OF THE BEE. 

The Creator gave to man the sovereignty 
over all the creatures that dwell on the face 
of the earth, and many of them seem in- 
stinctively to prefer his society and his service. 

Least of them all is the " Little Busy 
Bee," the patient gatherer of sweets, the 
frugal storer of the fruit of its toil, and 
hence the world's accepted symbol of indus- 
try and thrift. 

It chooses its field of labor in the neigh- 
borhood of human habitations ; avoiding the 
unbroken wastes of forests and the trackless 
desert alike. 

The almost limitless prairies, covered 
though they be with rich flowers through all 



PRACTICAL HINTS 



the season, nevertheless furnish but httle that 
invites the coming of the bee. Most civil- 
ized people are familiar with this exquisite 
little worker, yet they are familiar only with 
its general appearance and industrious habits. 
Much that is of great value respecting its 
nature, and the condition under which it 
is m(>st useful to man, the majority of rnen 
do not seem to know. 

And yet the multitudes who know but 
little about them, have undertaken to keep 
bees, and have hoped to gain much profit 
therefrom. Successful bee culture has, how- 
ever, been exceedingly rare. And no won- 
der. It was a most unreasonable expecta- 
tion, that of successful treatment, where men 
were ignorant of the wants of the domesti- 
cated insect and the necessary conditions of 
its existence. 

Who was the first keeper of bees, history 
does not say. So useful a servant to man, 
we conclude, however, must have shared 
with him the delights of the original garden, 



ON BEE CULTURE. 



where were all manner of fruits, and doubt- 
less all the honey laden flowers also. More- 
over, from the singular persistency with which 
our humble insect friend chooses the sweet 
and leaves the bitter behind, we judge that 
it was superior to the flattery that persuaded 
our first mother to pluck and eat the forbid- 
den fruit. In the far east, the nativity of 
our race, we shall, without doubt, locate the 
nativity of the bee. 

Nor was it because of any evil it had 
done that the world was destroyed with a 
flood. And when all the gardens and fields 
were submerged, we fancy he required only 
a quiet, snug little chamber, just under the 
roof of the ark, whence he foraged on the 
good things that father Noah had stored 
away for the comfort of his somewhat varied 
family ; and, when the waters were dried up 
again, and the flowering plants sprang up, 
it went forth from Ararat to sweeten the 
toils of humanity in every land to which 
toiling men should go. 



PRACTICAL HINTS 



The honey bee exists in a community, 
which we call a swarm, or a colony. Ev- 
ery swarm contains three kinds of bees. 
The Queen is the head of the community. 
No swarm can maintain its existence for 
any great length of time without a queen. 
The Drones are the "gentlemen" of the 
community. To them nature has denied the 
ability to perform the work of gathering 
honey, or of secreting wax. The proboscis 
of the drone is not of sufficient length to be 
available in extracting the honey from the 
flowers. No little grooves upon his leg 
serves as baskets for the pollen. It is the 
office of the drone to impregnate the queen. 

As the season approaches for swarming, 
the young drones make their appearance, and 
sport themselves in the sunshine on pleasant 
days during the middle of the day. In a 
large swarm there are 1,500 to 2,000 drones. 
But by far the most numerous class of bees 
in every swarm are the workers, which range 
from 20,000 to 60,000 in a swarm. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 7 

A more particular description of these dif- 
ferent kinds of bees will be acceptable to 
those whose interests are involved in their 
culture. 

THE QUEEN. 

In form, the Queen bee is long and slen- 
der, compared with the Drone. Her wings 
are short, covering only about one-half of 
her body. Her posterior is delicately taper- 
ing. When on the wing, she carries it 
curved downward and forward ; and when 
moving about in the hive, she draws it along 
on the surface on which she moves. 

The Queen is armed with a sting which 
she uses only in her combats with a rival 
Queen, You can handle her without fear, as 
she was never known to sting a person. 

The Queen is fed by the nurse bees, and 
my observation has led me to the conclusion 
that she is fed the same kind of partially di- 
gested food that is given to the larva. 

The office of the Queen, as before inti- 



PRACTICAL HINTS 



mated, is to keep up the stock of bees. She 
ONLY LAYS EGGS. She is Capable of laying 
from two to three thousand eggs in a day. 

The virgin Queen is capable of laying 
eggs, and these eggs will hatch out drones. 
Only after she has had conne6tion with a 
drone can the Queen lay eggs which will 
produce workers. 

It is a know fa6t, also, that a Queen, af- 
ter impregnation, is capable of laying eggs 
from which both workers and drones will be 
hatched. Moreover, the same egg will pro- 
duce a worker or a queen. But how ? Some 
have claimed that when a queen is wanted 
the worker bees prepare a queen cell in which 
she lays a queen egg, and this will inevitably 
produce a queen. Others claim that it de- 
pends on the food with which the larva is 
fed after it is hatched, whether it shall be- 
come a worker or a queen. If the workers 
choose to make it a queen, they feed it 
''royal jelly;" if they choose to make it a 
worker, they bring it up on ordinary food. 



0\ BEE CULTURE. J) 

My opinion is, that a queen comes from the 
fertilized egg from which the worker comes. 
The larva is the same, whether it is to be- 
come a worker or a queen. And I have 
been unable to detect any dilference in the 
food given to them respectively. The deter- 
mination does not, then, depend on the egg 
nor on the food. I conclude that it depends 
solely on the cell. The queen is the per- 
fe6lly developed female. The worker is an 
imperfectly developed female. The worker 
is dwarfed, by the smallness of the cell in 
which it undergoes its transformation from 
the egg to the larva, from the larva to the 
winged insect, the matured bee. 

DRONES. 

The Drones are hatched from the unfertil- 
ized eggs. They occupy the store-cells of 
the comb, which are considerably larger than 
the worker brood-cells. It would seem to 
imply a degree of intelligence on the part of 
the queen, that she invariably selects these 



10 PRACTICAL HINTS 



larger cells for the eggs of the drones. The 
drone is much larger and more clumsily 
formed than the worker -, his jaws are shor- 
ter, his body thicker, his wings longer and 
broader, and his posterior extremity is more 
blunt, and invested with a hairy appendage. 
Having no sting, they are without defense. 

They begin to appear in April, and will 
continue to increase for several months, pro- 
vided the season be favorable for gathering 
honey, and consequently for multiplying col- 
onies. 

But in an unfavorable season, the workers 
seem to become apprehensive of a short sup- 
ply of food, and they early commence the 
work of destroying the drones, as an unnec- 
essary burden on the community. Nor are 
they, in this, guilty of a mistaken policy, for 
the drones are enormous consumers of the 
sweet stores which their little sisters, with 
much labor, have gathered. The observant 
bee-keeper may himself find his interest in 



ON BEE CULTURE. 11 



taking counsel of the workers, and in unit- 
ing; with them in disposing of the unprofitable 
drones. 

THE WORKERS. 

The attention of the saunterer is often at- 
tracted to the behaviour of a bee that has just 
lit on a flower before him. How briskly she 
travels over its surface, scenting the deposits 
of sweetness ; hov/ she plunges her head and 
shoulders into the central cavity ; how she 
manipulates the anthers, and appropriates the 
pollen from them ; and when she has ex- 
hausted the supply, or has obtained all the 
lading she can carry, how cheerfully she hies 
awav to her home. This is one of the 
workers. You will notice that she is smaller 
than either queen or drone. Her form is 
trim and neat ; her wings are slight but 
strong. Her4iind legs are provided with mi- 
nute concavities in which she packs away the 
pollen, employing her feet in the operation. 
Underneath her abdomen she is furnished 



12 PRACTICAL HINTS 



with six overlapping, scale-like membranes, 
which form pockets, within which she se- 
cretes the wax. The wax is produced 
through digestion of food of the Bee, much 
as the fat of other animals is produced. 

The honey, as it is gathered, is taken into 
the honey-bag, which is an oval sack about 
the size of a grain of wheat, lying in front 
of the true stomach, with which it also com- 
municates. The amount of hon^y, there- 
fore, which a bee can carry home each trip 
she makes, is but a small drop. Yet, in pro- 
portion to her size, we must admit that it is 
somethino; considerable. Let us follow her 
to the hive. Arriving there, she goes straight 
to the store-comb, where she empties her 
honey-sack into one of the cells. 

She is armed with a sting, which nature 
intended, not so much for her own protection, 
as for the protedion of th» community of 
which she is a member. In many cases, and, 
indeed, in all cases where she inflid:s a 
wound with her sting on the large animals. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 13 



she sacrifices her own life. The sting itself 
is connected with a little sack in which a 
poison fluid is secreted which follows the 
sting, and causes the intense sufl^ering which 
most men have at some time experienced. 

As in human society there are various 
classes, and in every great industrial enter- 
prise there are various stations and duties as- 
signed to individuals, so, in the bee commu- 
nity, there is a division of labor and of 
responsibility. In every hive there is a de- 
tachment of workers, whose duty it is to 
guard the entrance; another detachment, 
whose duty it is to feed and care for the 
young ; another detachment is employed in 
building comb ; but the greater number are 
engaged in the work of gathei-ing honey and 
storing it away in the cells. 

Sometimes the comb is situated where it 
is inconvenient for the heavily laden bee to 
reach it. She cannot very well fly to it in- 
side the hive, where so many of her compan- 
ions are moving about, and ir is not conven- 



U PRACTICAL HINTS 



lent to reach it by a round-about way. Then 
the bees make a curious ladder, by suspend- 
ing one from another, the first one being 
suspended from a fixed spot at the top. The 
worker comes home with her load, enters 
the hive, begins the ascent of the hving lad- 
der, and reaches her destination successfully, 

COMB BUILDING. 

We have mentioned that the bee's comb 
?s a secretion in the bee analogous to that of 
the fat in other animals But there is this 
difference: ist. The animal is unconscious 
of the formation of the fat, while the bee 
holds the secretion of wax under her control. 
2nd. The fat of animals is chiefly deposited 
within ihem, while the wax is accumulated 
in the little external pockets which have been 
already described. 

The production of wax renders it neces- 
sary for the bee to consume more than the 
usual amount of honey and pollen. Differ- 
ent authors differ in reference to the quantity 



ON BEE CULTURE. 15 

of honey consumed in the operation of pro- 
ducing a pound of comb. Dzierzon says it 
requires twenty pounds ; Kretchner says 
thirteen pounds, and Dr. Kirtland savs twen- 
ty-five founds. 

The materials are passed from the honey- 
bag into the true stomach, where they are 
digested. After about twenty-four hours 
they enter into the blood from which the 
wax is secreted b) the organs which nature 
has provided for that purpose. 

In the work of building the comb, each 
builder is her own hod-carrier, so to speak ; 
for each comes to the structure with just that 
amount of material that has been prepared 
within herself, and put away in her little wax 
pockets. Now the first thing she does is to 
seize hold of the little flake of wax contained 
in one of these pockets, which shecoes with 
her hind feet ; next, she passes it forward, 
seizes it in her mandibles, and with her fore 
feet, her mandibles and proboscis, works and 
kneads the (lakes together into a consistency 



16 PRACTICAL HINTS 



suited to her use \ and then, beginning at the 
top, she lays down the adhesive substance on 
the surface from whicli she wishes to suspend 
the comb. 

Just here human invention has found one 
of its golden opportunities to interfere and 
guide the instinctive operations of the bee, 
for the profit of man. This it has done bv 
arranging in the hive the sinple device known 
as the movable-comb frame. 

Having prepared her " base of operations," 
she builds downward. The comb consists 
of a double series of hexagonal or six-sided 
cells, separated at their bases by a thin parti- 
tion. These cells are not built opposite each 
other, but the walls of one cell arise from 
the centre of the cell which stands on the 
opposite side of the partition, or floor. As 
the comb hangs vertically in the hive, the 
cells are built not exactly horizontally, but 
slightly curved upward, so that, as they grow, 
honey can be stored in them without loss. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 



USES OF THE CELLS. 

The FIRST use which a new colony of bees 
makes of its comb, is to store its own provis- 
ions of honey and pollen. Very soon the 
Queen commences depositing eggs in the 
cells, and the larvae appear within three days 
thereafter. In the early part of the season 
the bees build brood cells chiefly, in the lat- 
ter part of the season they build store cells 
almost exclusively. 

BREEDING. 

A stock of bees can only be kept vig- 
orous by the breeding of new stock. But 
the production of young bees depends chiefly 
on the production of bee-food. No matter 
how strong the original stock is, if the sea- 
son is unfavorable, the stock is almost cer- 
tain to diminish. But if the season be fa- 
vorable, so that an abundant supply of honey 
and bee-bread can be provided, then the in- 



18 PRACTICAL HINTS 



stipxt of reproduction will be sure to be 
active. Abundance of eggs will be deposited, 
and the workers will give all needed atten- 
tion to the rearing of the young. 

For this reason it is of importance that the 
keeper of bees shall see to it that his bees 
are furnished with sufficient food before the 
opening of the season, and at any time 
when, during the season, the natural supply 
runs short. The movable comb frame is of 
inestimable advantage for feeding bees, be- 
cause it can be placed where they, with the 
least trouble and excitement, can enjoy its 
use. 

If the food supply be furnished them early, 
there will be no lack of workers to gather 
the crop of honey which the first spring 
flowers offer; but, if the supply of food be 
suffered to become short, the result will be 
an enfeebled stock, which will be In danger 
of remaining feeble and inefficient through 
the season. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 19 



STAGES OF BEE LIFE. 

We have spoken of the act of the queen 
in depositing an egg in the bottom of the 
brood-cell. The egg is attached by its end 
to the centre of the bottom of the cell, 
where it remains for three days, when It 
hatches an active little worm or larva. Now 
the nurse bees begin the work of feeding. 
They prepare for the little nursling a milky 
looking substance, which they furnish in 
quantities sufficient that it may swim in it. 
The little grub, having no mouth, is fortun- 
ately furnished with absorbents over its whole 
body, by which it takes up its food while it 
swims. In this condition it remains about 
five or six days, the nurse-bees carefully pro- 
viding the needed supply of chyle. Then 
the cells are capped over, and the larva is left 
to develop and undergo its transformation. 
In about twelve days more it has attained to 
the character of a bee, and it begins to use 
its mandibles in uncapping its cell, which it 
prepares to vacate. 



20 PRACTICAL HINTS 



The drone is hatched from the egg in 
three days, the same as the worker, remains 
a larva six and a half days, and in about 
fourteen days more, or on the twenty-fourth 
day, leaves the cell. 

The cell in which the young queen is 
reared dilFers from all other cells. It is 
usually located at or near the edge of the 
comb. In its external appearance, it strongly 
resembles a small peanut shell. The walls 
of the queen cell are thick and strong, its 
base occupying the room of several ordinary 
cells, and the body of the cell projecting 
vertically, so that the head of the young 
queen is downward. The egg is hatched be- 
tween the third and fourth day ; the larva 
state continues about five days, when the 
cell is closed. Meanwhile, the bees show 
the royal grub every possible attention. It 
now remains imprisoned about eight days, 
when she eats her way out. 

It sometimes happens that the old queen 
is still in the hive when the time has come 



ON BEE CULTURE. 21 



for the young queen to come forth from the 
cell. It is then at her peril that she comes 
out, for one queen can never endure the 
presence of another queen, and the young 
one would be almost certainly killed by the 
old one. To prevent such an unfortunate 
occurrence, the worker bees instinctively 
hold back the young queen from going abroad, 
and guard her by covering her with their 
own bodies, in such numbers that the old 
queen cannot reach her. 

After the young queen leaves her cell, it 
is cut down till it has the appearance of a 
small acorn cup. I have known instances 
in which the same base has been built upon 
several times, but never one in which the 
entire cell has been preserved. 

The average life of the workers is about 
four months. The drones live only at the 
mercy of the workers, and if the supply of 
honey is good they are tolerated through 
most of the season. The queen often lives 
from three to five years. 



22 PRACTICAL HINTS 



BEE FOOD. 

Whatever the bee gathers and stores is 
gathered and stored for food. These stores 
are chiefly of two kinds, which sre known 
hy the name of honey and bee bread. 
As it would be injurious and often fatal to 
subsist a horse on grain only^ so it would 
seem to be fatal to the bee to eat honey only. 
A coarser food is needed to enable the di- 
gestive organs to perform their functions. 
On the same grounds on which it is neces- 
sary to give the horse hay, it is necessary 
that the bee shall have " bread. "^ And na- 
ture has provided that the flower from which 
she extracts the mo-e concentrated food — - 
the honey — shall also aflx)rd her the coarser 
food. Hence, while her proboscis reaches- 
for the sweetness, the legs may be brushing 
against the anthers of the flowers, and catch- 
ing the pollen as it falls. 

Indirectly the bee, in this busy life of hers, 
gathering food for herself, performs another 
service for the benefit of man ; for she car- 



t)>;' BEE CULITIRE. 2S 

ries from the anthers of one flower to the 
pistil of another, the fertilising dust, with- 
out which the season of fruiting would never 
come. 

We have spoken of the larva swimming of 
floating in a milky looking fiuic^ in the celL 
As to the nature of this fluid, we remark, 
that inasmuch as it is supplied to the cells by 
the worker bees, we suppose it to be of the 
nature of chyle, which they have the ability 
to raise out of their stomachs and to deposit 
in the cell. 

ENEMIES OF THE BEE. 

One of the most destructive enemies of 
the honey bee is the moth, or miller. It 
usually makes its appearance in July, and 
attacks weak swarms. Strong, vigorous 
swarms are comparatively free from danger 
from the attacks of the miller. The egg of 
the miller is often deposited on the board 
over which the bee is obliged to pass in en- 
tering the hive, and it becomes attached to 



24 PRACTICAL HINTS 



her legs and carried in; and it finds a lodg- 
ment in the comb on which she is working. 
Some have suggested that the moth may lay 
its eggs in the flowers where the bee gathers 
honey and pollen, and thus it may be intro- 
duced into the hive. But it is certain, also, 
that the miller sometimes enters the hive, 
when the stock of bees is weak, and depos- 
its its eggs directly in the comb. 

It is the moth larva, not the miller, that is 
so destructive to the bees. Hatching out in 
the hive, the little grub begins to eat its way 
through the comb, choosing that part of the 
comb which is most safe from the attack of 
the bees. Hence it will often be found to 
have entirely consumed a large portion of 
the cell floor, by which it splits the comb 
througout much of its extent, while the ex- 
ternal portion of the comb is apparently un- 
injured. In its progress it often cuts away 
the walls of the brood cells, while the young, 
immature bees are yet in them, thus destroy- 
ing large quantities of the brood. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 



How can this enemy of the bee be met 
and most successfully resisted ? Many de- 
vices have been invented, and some of them 
have been patented. 

It is certain that all moth traps are worth- 
less. The eggs that are carried into the 
hive by the bees themselves are probably 
more numerous than those that the miller 
itself deposits there. My experience has 
produced the conviction that the first great 
requisite is to keep the stocks strong. It is 
needful, in the next place, that the bee keep- 
er be able frequently to examine every part 
of the hive, so that if any moth eggs hatch 
there, he can immediately remove the infect- 
ed comb out of the hive. This can be 
done only with the movable comb hive. 

The king bird is also an enemy of the 
bee. You may see him perched on the limb 
of a tree, watching. Whenever a bee comes 
in, overburdened with honey, flying slowly 
because of her load, he will dart out sud • 



26 PRACTICAL HINTS 

denly and devour her. The best remedy for 
the king bird is the shot gun. 

Ants are sometimes very troublesome ene- 
mies of the honey bee. I have noticed that 
the bee fears the ant. He marches boldly 
into the hive, and takes his fill of honey. 
Ants, in great numbers, make raids on the 
same hive, generally choosing the night sea- 
son for their marauding;. There should be 
no harbor for ants near a hive. No old 
boards, or chips, or sticks of wood, should 
be left lying around loose. If ants are de- 
tected in the work of foraging on the bees, 
find their homes, and sprinkle a little flour 
MIXED WITH CALOMEL ovcr them, which will 
destroy them. I have tried many things, but 
nothing equals this. 

Toads should be excluded from the vicin- 
ity of bee stands, for toads love bees, and are 
very expert in taking them, especially when 
they alight for a moment on the ground near 
them. 



ON BKE CULTURE 27 

MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 

The object of keeping bees is profit. If 
we are not to derive any profit from it, we 
do not wish to have the trouble of it. Hives 
cost money. A stock to start with costs 
money. Time is money. The ground they 
occupy is worth money. If there is no 
money to be made by keeping bees, then we 
do not care to keep them. This, at least, is 
the GENERAL feeling. And it is right. Bu^ 
it should be understood that there is no profit 
in bad management, and certainly there is 
none in the bad management of bees. 

In the management of bees, the first great 

DISIDERATUM is a COMFORTABLE hoUSC foT 

the bee to live in. When left to themselves 
thev seldom fail to find such a house in the 
hollow of a forest tree, and sometimes even 
in the cavities of rocks. In a domestic state, 
they are quite contented and happy in the 
sections of such hollow trees which men 
have boarded over for their use : in old style 



28 PRACTICAL HINTS 



Straw hives ; in the plainest kinds of boxes, 
etc. In Tact, it is not a difficult task to satis- 
fy the taste of the bee, in the matter of a 
dwelling. She does not demand a great 
house, with all the modern improvements ; 
with carpeted halls and parlors, and 
with folding doors. She is more intent on 
the geometry of comb-building, than the 
splendid architecture of the hive. 

The whole, or nearly the whole, import- 
ance that attaches to the dillerences in hives, 
therefore, relates simply to their adaptation 

to SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT. In Other 

words, one hive is better than another hive, 
just in proportion to its convenience in the 
bee-keeper's treatment of his bees. 

We assume that everybody knows how to 
build an old-fashioned box hive. And, if all 
you want is to catch the swarm and hive it, 
and let it fill the hive with honey, and then 
kill the bees and get the honey, then that old 
fashioned hive is good enough. But, if you 
wish to keep the bees over ; if you wish to 



ON BEE CULTURE. 29 

guard them against the ravages of the bee 
moth -, if you wish to encourage them to 
store more honey than they themselves can 
consume, and to store it, unmixed with bee- 
bread and brood, where you can remove it 
when you choose; if you wish to have some 
convenience for feeding them when they get 
short of provisions, and yet do not wish to 
subject them to too great exposure, then the 
old box hive is not sufficient. It is possible 
to meet all these contingencies by combining 
various devices in the construction of a hive. 
In the next place, the proper management 
of bees requires a suitable location for their 
dwellings. One bee hive should not be too 
near another. The keeper should be able to 
attend to one hive without disturbing the 
quiet of a whole neighborhood of hives. 
And the individual colonies should not be in 
ir-itable proximitv to other colonies. The 
location of a hive should not be too elevated. 
A high, naked hill, or spur of a hill, over 
which the high winds of the spring sweep 



80 PRACTICAL HINTS 



mercilessly, is very unfit for the residence of 
bees. Thus exposed, multitudes are des- 
troyed while returning laden with honey to 
their homes. A shady, sheltered spot, is 
necessary. Then the extremes of heat and 
cold will not imperil the stock. 

It is a great folly to let hives stand in the 
sun and rain. The rain swells the wood, 
the sun contracts it, producing cracks and 
warping it out of shape, making openings 
when there should be tight joints ; giving to 
the moth an entrance or a cozy place to lay 
its eggs. 

When bees swarm, it is important that 
the manager be in attendance, and ready„ 
He should previously have deciced where his 
next colony shall be placed He may have 
no trouble in hiving them. If they alight in a 
convenient place, he must go to work, as soon 
as they have settled down in compact shape, 
and very quietly and very gently cut the 
twig on which they rest, and carry it to the 
place where the hive i> waiting, and shake 



ON BEE CULTURE. 31 

them off at the entrance of the hive. They 
will generally enter it and make themselves 
at home. Sometimes the bees alight on a 
high limb. Mr. Ouinby recommends the 
use of a basket attached to a pole, in this 
case. By holding the basket directly under 
the swarm, and suddenly jarring the limb 
they fall into the basket and can be carried 
to the hive. Set the basket down by the 
hive, and the bees will find the entrance and 
go in. Sometimes they alight on the heavier 
limbs, or • in the crotch of the tree, and it 
may be necessary to brush them ofF, with a 
wing into a pan or basket. 

It may also happen that they have made 
their arrangements to go away. Many ex- 
pedients, such as rattling pans, ringing bells, 
throwing sand among them, showering them 
with water, flashing the sunlight upon them 
by mirrors, etc., etc., have been recommen- 
ded to keep bees from leaving. I have no 
faith in any of these performances. I know 
of but one preventative. By .means of the 



32 PRACTICAL HINTS 

movable comb hive they may be artificially 
swarmed, or divided, a little in advance of 
the time when they whould swarm naturally, 
and thus they will be contented to remain in 
their quarters. And I remark, also, that this 
is the ONLY TIME when artificial swarming 
should be practiced, because, at this time the 
bees are prepared for the work of fitting up 
their new abode. They have an extraordi- 
nary stock of wax in their wax pouches, and 
they are holding their store of honey in their 
honey bags, for their use while settling down 
in their ^ew home. To divide a swarm at 
any other time is to put the new colony, and 
generally both, at a great disadvantage in the 
outset of their separate existence. If the 
season is very favorable, they may do well ; 
but if not, they will be very likely to do verv 
poorly. The chances are against them. In 
the management of bees, the next important 
item is this — the keeper must visit and 

CAREFULLY OBSERVE THEM FREQUENTLY. 

He must study their habits. He will soon be 



ON BEE CULTURE. 33 



able to tell when they are doing well. He 
will see if they go out and in as if they were 
intent on regular business, or if they are 
restless, distracted, or inactive. Their con- 
duct will soon inform him whether they are 
able to reach good pasturage or not -, and 
whether they are suffering any annoyance or 
not. If he see signs of discontent or distress, 
he should suspect the presence of some ene- 
my of the bee. Then he should carry his 
examination to the inside of the hive, care- 
fully lifting out the comb frames, and noting 
if any foe has gained an entrance. 

In good seasons, the bees will gather a sur- 
plus of honey, and the keeper will wish to 
remove it. For this purpose hives, are con- 
structed with separate chambers, or recepta- 
cles, for storing the surplus. In these boxes, 
the bees will store nothing but the pure 
honey. In the body of the hive, the comb 
will be found to contain honey, bee-bread and 
brood. 

When the little boxes are filled, you re^ 



34 PRACTICAL HINTS 



move them, and put empty ones in their 
places. When a box is removed, it will 
generally be found that a number of bees 
remain in it, and when it is set away from 
the hive for the bees to leave, others will 
come and commence the work of carrying 
oir the contents of the hqx. A good plan is 
to set the boxes reversed in a tub, and spread 
a sheet over the tub. The bees will leave 
the boxes, and outsiders cannot enter. When 
all are out, remove the sheet, shake or brush 
the bees off. When the honey box is to be 
put in its place, it is an excellent plan to take 
a piece of clean, empty comb, cut its upper 
side straight, warm it, and then attach it to 
the roof of the box, in the direction you 
wish the comb to be built. The bees will 
commence working in the box much sooner 
than they otherwise would. 

Bees should be protected against the ex- 
treme cold and sudden changes of the winter. 
For this purpose a dry, airy cellar, where the 
temperature can be kept near the freezing 



ON BEE CULTURE. 35 

point, is recommended. But if they are left 
out doors, they should be carefuUv watched 
to prevent accumulation of snow or dust 
about the openings, and to keep up the nec- 
essary ventillation 

Before putting bees into winter quarters, 
the supplies of food should be so equalized 
that there shall be no lack in any hive. This 
can be done by removing comb -frames, with 
the honey, from those that are well supplied 
to those that lack. 

Honey boxes that contain comb, or honey, 
should be removed, and empty ones put in 
their places. 

BEE PASTURE. 

The flowers of most forest and fruit trees, 
and shrubs, as well as those of many herbs, 
yield either honey or pollen, or both, to the 
industry of the bee. It is an advantage to 
the bee-keeper, however, to be in the neigh- 
borhood oi' timber, because much of the 
earliest supply is found in the tree flowers. 



8G PRACTICAL HINTS 



But there are limes in the seasons when 
the natural supply becomes scant, and it is 
important that provision be made in anticipa- 
tion of such times. One of the very best 
plants to be cultivated for this purpose is the 
white clover ; both because it continues so 
long in bloom, and because it yields the pur- 
est and finest honey. It can be grown, also, 
in places that would otherwise be waste. 
The Alsike clover is nearly as valuable as 
the white. Some persons esteem it even 
more highly. 

WORKING AMONG BEES. 

When coming near a hive, avoid all hasty 
movements. Do everything deliberately. If 
you wish to work about the hive, carry a 
little bunch of cotton rags on fire with you, 
and blow some of its smoke into the hive. 
The startled bees will immediately fill them- 
selves with honey; and after this they will 
be amiable enough. You can do what you 
wish with them without danger of being stung. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 



PROFITS OF BEE CULTURE. 

It is a source of great pleasure to one 
whose time is not occupied with other and 
severer labors, to observe the habits, and give 
the benefit of his care to the industrious 
community of bees, whose whole life is spent 
in gathering and storing away sweetness. 

Many a man would live longer if he 
would relax the mental strain which his bus- 
iness has wrought up to such fearful tension, 
that a slight increase must cause it to snap ; 
and I know of no employment better suited 
to such needful relaxation than the culture of 
bees. 

It is also decidedly pleasant to be able to 
place a nice comb of clear, white honey be- 
fore a guest ; and it does not detract from 
the pleasure, to be able to show him the 
chamber in which the little workers are stor- 
ing away an additional store of the same 
sort. 

Manv persons, probablv, keep bees for no 



3S PRACTICAL HINTS 

Other profit than such as I have named. 
The opinion has extensively prevailed that a 
large number of swarms could not be profit- 
able kept on the same ground. It is true 
that ground may be over-crowded with hives. 
It is not best to place hives too near together. 
But an ordinary town lot would accomodate 
several. 

The LIMIT of profitable bee culture is 
exactly the same as the limit of any other 
profitable business — i. e., it is limited bv the 
CAPABILITY and DiLLiGENCE of him who is 
eno;ao;ed in it. Whenever a man undertakes 
so much in any busii^ess as to be obliged to 
slight some part of it, he is sure to loose 
money. When he does just the amount of 
business that he can do well, he trjakes it 
pay. 

Bee keeping, on a moderate scale, requires 
but little time. It is simply recreation. And 
it may be made profitable as such.. And 
while it makes but slight draft on one's time, 
it will be financially profitable. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 39 



The keeper of a few colonies of bees 
ought to get at least one new colony from 
each of the olc ones, everv year. Some- 
times he will get two or more new colonies 
from each old one. Now, in addition this 
increase of stock, he will have the surplus 
honev, which will range from forty to one 
hundred and twenty pounds in ordinary 
years, from swarms of good average strength. 
It will be seen that several hundred per cent, 
of profit is almost a certainty. Bur, do not 

FORGET THAT EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON 
MANAGEMENT. 

REQUSITES OF BEE HIVES. 

Capacity. — The homestead of the hive 
should be of the capacity of a little over a 
bushel. The inside measures which I prefer 
are — 14J inches length, 14J breadth, and 12 
inches depth. Above the homestead there 
should be a chamber of two-thirds the capac- 
ity of the homestead, in which the honey 
boxes, or surplus comb-frames are to be 



40 PRACTICAL HINTS 



placed. Movable-comb frames should be 
used in the homestead. 

Convenience. — Convenience is a prime 
quality in the residence of man, and in the 
hive of the bee. It should not be too far 
from the entrance to the living room, or to 
the place of labor. When a bee arrives at 
the door of her hive, she does not want to 
make a long, tiresome journey to reach the 
cell where her burden of honey is to be un- 
loaded. Now, for this reason, the hive 
must not be too high or too long. But, be- 
sides this, the convenience of management 
requires that a hive shall not be too compli- 
cated. It should be such that all the inter- 
nal arrangement may be laid open to view, 
when necessary, without much delay, or 
jar, or friction of parts so as to cause no 
unnecessary alarm among the community. 
Every part should be within easy reach, and 
so related to other parts, that changes that 
are necessary for the good of the stock, may 
readily be made. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 41 



Cheapness is another prime quality. A 
very expensive hive is sure to be an unprofit- 
able one. The more complicated the con- 
struction of the hive, the more expensive it 
must be. Still, there is no advantage gained 
in making a hive of poor material, because 
it is cheap ; nor in hiring it made by a poor 
workman, because he will work cheaply. The 
hive should be well made, of good lumber, 
and well painted, to keep the weather from 
destroying it. In the Missouri Valley a good 
hive ought not to cost more than five dollars. 
In the east, where lumber is cheaper, it 
should not cost so much. A good hive will 
not have unnecessary openings through which 
the bee moth can enter, to lay its egg. For 
this reason it should have but one entrance, 
and that should not be too large. 

A hive with a homestead the size described 
is sufficiently large to accommodate a swarm 
of bees, with plenty of room to store their 
supplies for winter. All honey deposited in 
the surplus honey boxes can be removed. 



42 PRACTICAL HINTS 

ARNOLD'S 
IMPROVED MOVABLE COMB HIVE. 



PATENTEE) SEPTEMBER. 24, 1873. 



It is believed that this hive possesses all 
the qualities requsite to a good hive, in a 
larger degree than any other. Certainly 
those who have given it the longest trial, in 
competition with all other hives, have been 
the most enthusiastic in its praise. 

The following cuts show the character of 
Arnold's hive. The first cut presents nearly 
a front view of the hive as it appears open, 
with its movable frames edgwise to the ob- 
server. The second cut shows the hive 
closed, with the rear part of the floor dropped 
to facilitate the cleaning of the floor, and also 
showing the mode of hiving a new swarm. 
In the first cut the hood is shown on the 
hive ; in the second cut it is left off, and the 
honey boxes are exposed to view. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 



43 



DESCRIPTON. 

The following description is taken from 
the Official Gazette of the United States 
Pa*-ent Office, oi' September 24th, 1872: 




'^ The frames are based in niches cut \ii 
the bills at opposite inner sides of the outer 
case i.ear the floor, and kept equidistant from 



44 



PRACTICAL HINTS 



each other at the top by intermediate pins. 
A flat thin top to the case is slotted in coin- 
cidence with slots in the bottoms of honey- 
boxes resting thereon. A hood fits snugly 
over these boxes, and a flange from it de- 



lirr- 




scends outside the case to cover the joint. 
The outer case is divided upon a line from 
near the top of the rear, where it is hinged, 
to near the bottom of the front, and an in- 
clined piece fixed on the inner angle of each 
side of the top part presses the frames to- 



ON BEE CULTURE. 45 



ward each other in the act of closing. The 
case may be opened, carrying the hood and 
honey-boxes with the moving part, or these 
may be first removed." 

ADVANTAGES. 

1 have been led to the construction of this 
hive, by my efforts to secure a combination 
of advantages with the least possible compli- 
cation. 

EiRST. — I wish a hive, every part of which 
is readily accessible ; so that either the purest 
honey comb, the brood chamber, or the bees 
themselves, may be reached and handled. If 
we wish to remove an old comb, and put 
another comb in its place ; if we wish to re- 
move a full comb, and put an empty frame 
in its place ; if we wish to transfer a brood 
comb with its young brood, together with a 
queen cell and a quantity of bees, to a new 
location, it is of great advantage to have just 
such accessibility of the parts as this hive 
affords. 



46 PRACTICAL HINTS 

In my experience I have never found any 
other device that possessed this important 
feature — convenience — in so great a degree; 
and my neighbors, and many others who 
have made a trial of it, assure me that it 
more than meets their expectations, i have 
found that bees are addicted to the practice 
of waxing over everv spot in the upper part 
of the hive, where joints are made by pieces 
of wood in contact. Thus, when movable 
comb frames are suspended from supports 
in the upper part of the hive, they are often so 
firmly fastened by the bees that it requires 
considerable exertion to get tliem out. Hence 
the comb is often bruised, or otherwise in- 
jured. Moreover, I have often wished to 
examine the different combs as the frames 
were suspended, but could not do it success- 
fully, without removing one or more, because 
they were fixed at the top. I have, for 
these reasons, arranged my comb-frames so 
that they stand in semi-circular niches at the 
bottom, and when I wish to examine the 



ON BEE CULTURE. 47 

condition of a comb, I open the hive as seen 
in the first cut ; the frames can then be sep- 
arated at the top sufficiently so that in a min- 
ute I can make a thorough search of the en- 
tire homestead. Now, suppose I suspect 
the presence of the moth ; by dropping the 
floor of the hive behind, I ascertain if they 
have made any litter thereon. Nou^, closing 
the bottom, and turning back the upper half 
of the hive upon its hinges, I can lay the 
combs open so as to observe them, one after 
another. If I deem it necessary to remove 
a frame, it is already loose, and I remove it 
without trouble. In all these operations I 
have not found it necessary to remove the 
hood, or to disturb the honey boxes. I re- 
place the frame, or substitute an empty one, 
close the hive, and the entire process has 
occupied so brief a time that the bees have 
suffered the least possible annoyance. I have 
observed, that when I remove a honey box 
in which the bees are working, they immedi- 
ately fill themselves with honev and leave, 



48 PRACTICAL HINTS 



but when I turn back the upper portion 
of my hive, without disturbing the honey 
boxes, the bees that are working therein 
remain quietly, and when the hive is closed, 
and the boxes are brought into their usual 
position, the bees resume their work as if 
nothing had happened. This I regard as a 
very great advantage. 

Secondly. — I wish a hive that I can re- 
move from place to place without diiliculty, 
and without endangering the comb, or the 
bees. If my comb frames are suspended, as 
they usually are, they are free to swing. If 
the hive, in its removal, be not kept level, 
the suspended frames are liable to swing, and 
the comb is liable to be injured, and the bees 
to be killed. I avoid all this danger by the 
sockets in which the frames stand at the 
bottom, and the pins and wedges by which 
they are held in place at the top. 

Thirdly. — Whatever excellencies a hive 
may have, it must not be so expensive as to 



ON BEE CULTURE. 49 



eat up all the profits of bee keeping. Hence, 
many people still adhere to the old box hive. 
I find it possible to secure all the advantages 
of which I have spoken, at a reasonable cost. 
In the construction of my hive I use about 
sixteen feet of inch lumber, (or dressed |,) 
which includes strips for frames. For honey 
boxes I use about five feet of thin lumber, 
such as is used for backs to pictures and mir- 
rors, which is sufficient for four boxes. I 
use glass ends. I usually make two hives in 
a day, which is not a hard day's work This 
does not include painting. Any one can 
estimate the cost of such a hive for his own 
locality, knowing the price of lumber and 
mechanic's labor. 

I will sell a limited number of hives at 
$4,50 apiece, to persons wishing to first test 
them before purchasing farm or territorial 
rights. On application, I will forward cir- 
culars, stating prices of territory, terms, cct. 
Adcress, DON J. ARNOLD, 

Brownville, Nebraska. 



50 PRACTICAL HINTS 



THE ITALIAN HONEY BEE. 

Much interest has been taken in the efforts 
to introduce the Itahan bee into this country, 
and considerable success has attended the 
effort, with excellent results. The Italian 
bee is undoubtedly stronger, more active, and 
more hardy, than the common bee. It is 
also a more successful gatherer of honev. 

The Italian Qtieen is more prolific than 
the native Queen, and the svi'arms are ac- 
cordingly stronger. 

If any one shall get the Italian, thinking 
to have a more amiable bee, one that will 
not sting, etc., he will probably be disap- 
pointed. They are lively fellows in the 
maintanence of their rights, and they use the 
sting as violently as other bees. 



ON BEE CULTURE. 



CERTIFICATES. 

The following certificates are from as re- 
liable men as we have in this - country, and 
who are successful bee-keepers : 

Brownville, Neb , March 14th, 1874. 

Don J. Arnold : 

Dear Sir — I am delighted with the work- 
ing of your Improved iMovable-Comb Bee 
Hive. After proving it, I am convinced 
that it is all that can be desired in the shape 
of a hive, Hiram Alderman. 



Brownville, March 6th, 1874. 

This is to certify that I have used several 
kinds of Bee Hives, and my preference is 
decidedly in favor of Arnold's, and I will 
rely upon it entirely in the future, as it gives 
much better satisfaction than any other I 
have tried. S. Cochran. 



AspiNvvALL, Neb., March 9th, 1874. 

D. J. Arnold : 

Dear Sir — I am using the Arnold Bee 
Hive, and find it fills every requirement that 



52 PRACTICAL HINTS 

is necessary for a good hive ; and would also 
recommend every one who wants a bee hive 
for convenience, to try them and see for 
themselves. 

Yours truly, 

F. H. D. Hunt. 



Missouri Bottom, March I4tli, 1874. 

Don J. Arnold : 

Sir — I have kept bees for over thirty years, 
and during that time have tried from the hol- 
low log gum to the Langstroth hive, but 1 
find the Arnold Improved Movable-Comb 
Hive to be superior to any of them in con- 
venience for handling bees or honey. 

R. BUCKHAM. 



Phelps City, Mo., February 2>oth, 1874. 

I have been a bee keeper for thirty years, and 
have tried nearly all the patent hives that 
have been brought out, with variable success, 
and have come to the conclusion that Ar- 
nold's Hive has more good points for practi- 
cal bee keeping than any other hive now in 
use. Yours, Jas. Carnes. 



JOHN CRADDOCK. W. F. CRADDOCK. 

CRADDOCK Sl SON, 

Dealers in 

BREE€H-LO ADII¥G 

SHOT OTJn^S, 

RIFLES, CARBINES, AMMUNITION, 
AND SPORTING GOODS. 

No. 11 MAIN STREET, 

BROWN VILLE, NEB BASRA. 

Guns made to order. Repairing neatly done. 



JI\0. S^. STULL, 

ATTORNEY AND COUNSELOR AT LAW, 

BROWNVILLE, NEBRASKA. 



m Honi 



S3IITHP. TVTTLJE, 

PROPRIETOR, 
BROWNVIl>L,E, NEB. 

Good Stabling connected with the House, and all the con- 
veniences usually attaching to a first-class hotel. 



JOSEPH SHUTZ, 

Clocks, Watches and Jewelry. 

BROWNVILLE NEBRASKA. 

Repairing neatly and promptly done. All work, warranted. 



We keep constantly on hand a full assort- 
ment of Nebraska grown 

Persons wishing to purchase will do well by 
sending for our prices before purchasing else- 
where. 

FURNAS, 803. & McCORMKK, 
Brownville, Nebraska. 



p I © ir w m B s . 



J. 11, SHliOFF, 

J^ T o w TL^r ill Q ^ Nebraska, 

Invites one and all to come and see his 
specimens of Photography. He is making 
all the latest styles of pictures, on reasonable 
terms. Special attention given to 

COT^O^TN Gr. 

OLD PIGTURES COPIED AND ENLARGED. 



HUMBOLBT 



This Machine is of simple construction, 
and challenges an equal trial with any other 
machine in use, as hundreds who are usino- it 
can testify. ^ 

Call on or address, 

KINSEV & PARKER, 
Manufacturers, 
BROWIWILI.E. .NEBRASKA. 



|tntrd llntoii Igrrnilturrst. 

THE AGRICULTURIST is a monthly publication of 
32 pages, devoted to the interest of Agriculture, Horticul- 
ture, Literature, Science, Arts, Morals, &c. It will compare 
favorably with similar eastern papers, mechanically and typo- 
graphically. It is now in its 6th year, and consequently' has 
become the leading agricultural paper in the State It has an 
extensive correspondence, which alone is worth the subscrip- 
tion. A large portion of the paper is made up of original 
matter, the production of our borne writers on various sub- 
jects. It is published at the low rate of $1,50 per annum. 
In- clubs of 5 ... . j>y 00. 

" " io ... I, 00. 

" " 20 . . . . 25 00. 
And a copy gratis to the person who sends 20 subscribers. 
Send 2 cts. for sample copy. Address JEREIVJI AH BEHM* 
Editor and Publisher, Omaha, Neb. 



SIXTEENTH YEAR. 

Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN, 

For the Amateur, Market Gnrdenrr, Arbor cult urist. Landscape 

Gardener, Botanist and Poniolorjm. The Leadmr, Floral 

and HorticMltural Authority on the Omtment. 

Fifteen Years under One Editor. 

No lady who loves these subjects should be without this 
Magazine. Henry Ward Beecher says : " Others may know 
a better Horticultural Journal in America, I do noi." 

To whom it may concern we say : 1, If you are already 
acquainted with the subject you need this Magazine as z- 
companion. !2, If you need instruction you cannot afford to 
do without it. 

Subscription, $2 per annum in advance. Six months lor 
$1. Liberal commission to agents, who will please write for 
specimens and terms. We offer no premiums, but give in- 
stead, a great deal of reading matter for Two Dollars per 
year, to the subscriber, and a liberal commission retained by 
agents. There are in each number 32 royal 8vo pages of 
reading matter, besides the advertising pages, which are al- 
ways additional; never encroaching on the Magazine proper. 
An unusually large proportion of the reading matter is orig- 
inal, and the balance selected from the best domestic and 
foreign information bearing on Horticultural subjects. The 
extent of the work, and its exhaustive and valuable index to 
each volume (rendering it a complete Encyclopedia of Hor- 
ticulture) would make this Magazine cheap at $3. 

Two copies, $3.50; Three copies, $5; Five copies, $8 ; 
Ten copies (and one extra copy to club at any address), mak- 
ing Eleven copies for $15. 

CHARLES H. MAROT, 

Publisher, 
811 Cliestnut St., P»»4latl«ll»*»*»' 



LOUIS LOWMAN, 



DEALER IN 



cLOTHiisra, 

HATS, CAPS, BOOTS, SHOES, 

I'^AXCY GOODS & NOTIONS. 



Mm% if M®lm ®tp#©t 



BROWNVILLE, NEBRASKA. 



ARNOLD'S 



©)■■ HIVB* 



Patented Septeinbei- ^4, 1M7:^ 



Awarded First Premium at the State Fair, 
held at Brownvillc, Nebraska ; also large 
Silver Medal at the Industrial Exposition, 
held at St. Joseph, Mo. It has received the 
First Premium at every Fair where it has 
been exhibited. 



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